Sensex up 17.31 points in afternoon trade

Mumbai, May 2 (IANS) A benchmark index for Indian equities markets was trading 17.31 points higher Wednesday, led by good buying support for consumer durables, bank and IT stocks.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened in the positive at 17,370.93 points, was ruling at 17,336.12 points around 2.00 p.m., up 0.10 percent or 17.31 points from its previous close at 17,318.81 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 17,432.33 points and low of 17,309.69 points in the intra-day trade. The Sensex midcap was up 2.97 points and the smallcap grew by 22.66 points.

The broad-based 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange was trading 0.03 percent or 1.75 points up at 5,249.90 points.

The consumer durables' sectoral index was up 173.04 points and the banks' index gained 55.88 points, followed by the IT index, which was up 54.69 points.

Prominent Sensex gainers were telecom major Bharti Airtel, up 8.15 percent at Rs.318.45; DLF, up 2.57 percent at Rs.191.70; FMCG major Hindustan Unilever, up 1.98 percent at Rs.424.60; TCS, up 1.97 percent at Rs.1,269.45; and Cipla, up 1.94 percent at Rs.317.90.

Major Sensex losers included Tata Motors, down 3.31 percent at Rs.306.25; Maruti Suzuki, down 2.30 percent at Rs.1,338.40; Tata Power, down 2.13 percent at Rs.103.25, Coal India, down 1.70 percent at Rs.346.55 and Bajaj Auto, down 1.36 percent at Rs.1,600.95.